I went to The Bank yesterday for the fourth time in five days to enjoy me some Phillies/Nationals lopsided baseball action. It was pretty much a repeat of the two previous games and exactly what I expected — lots of drinking in the parking lot followed by the Phillies handing the Nationals a well-deserved “L” then followed by even more drinking in the parking lot. There was, however, one part to yesterday’s adventure that one could never prepare for: I was in prime (repeat: PRIME) position to catch Chris Coste’s home run ball in the bottom of the 2nd inning. And I failed miserably.

Before I get to my depressing tale of dropping a home run ball, I might as well let you know that in my 30 years of attending major league baseball games I have yet to catch a foul ball — let alone a home run — and to be honest, I’ve never even been close.

Well, all that changed yesterday when Costey sent a frickin’ lazer shot for a solo home run to the exact spot that I was occupying — Section 143, Row 15, Seat 15. If you’d like to hear the first-person account, you must proceed past the jump.

Alright, so it was the bottom of the 2nd inning with one down and a 2-0 count to Chris Coste. I was seated comfortably in left field when all of a sudden a John Lannan pitch gets SMOKED by the backup catcher and I could tell right away the ball was gone. Not only that, but it was traveling in the general vicinity of where I was sitting, so I got ready to make a play on the ball.

There were about 4-5 open seats to my right, so as the ball was in the air, I got in outfielder mode and began tracking its flight. I casually strolled passed the unoccupied seats, and just when it was about to land, I made a Torii Hunter-esque leap (timed perfectly, I might add) and the ball hit me square on the palm. I’m not talking about brushing my fingertips, or barely grazing my hand, I’m talking PALM. I was about to squeeze my stubby little fingers around it when I felt some resistance from the guy behind me who (as you can tell from the first picture) grabbed a hold of my right hand causing the ball to bounce forward. I’m not telling you that as an excuse or anything, jussayin. It looks like the guy is trying to rape my hand for chrissakes.

Check the MASN screengrab from that exact moment:

Surprisingly, my chance at catching the ball wasn’t over with. Because it was hit so cot damn hard, when the ball smashed against my palm it caused it to pop up in the air giving me one last chance to Pete Rose the ball that I had just Bob Boone’d. Here I am trying to get the rebound:

And here I am stretching out as far as I possibly can to snag it. The ball is right next to my hand here:

I swear to God the entire ordeal was going in slow motion. But between the copious amounts of beer consumed up until that point and the sun beaming down directly onto my face for two and a half hours, the whole “slow motion” thing was easily offset by my slower-than-normal reaction time.

That miss led to this — my last lame attempt at recovering Coste’s homer. Uckgh.

And here is me getting ready to punch Section 143 right in the face:

It was honestly one of the most disappointing moments of my entire life. Chances are that I will never be in such a perfect position to do this again in my life. At least I had my friend there to continuously quote Copland in his best obnoxious-DeNiro voice –

“YOU BLEW IT!”

I definitely can’t argue with you, DeNiro.

I spent the next two innings trying to pay attention to the game, but I just kept replaying the missed opportunity in my head over and over as the people seated close by made fun of me. So I could either sit there and feel like shit while being tortured by the guys in the row behind me, or go to McFadden’s, get shit-face drunk, and dull the pain. I went with option b.

As humiliating and depressing as it was, if you happen to notice my left hand in these pictures, you will see that throughout the entire home run catching maylay I did not fumble nor spill a drop of beer from my 16-oz. plastic Miller Lite bottle. I would’ve been really pissed if I dropped the ball and my $6.75 beer.

Share this:

worse than dropping that ball…you were wearing those sunglasses while you did it.

http://www.thefightins.com meech.one

Those are my gay cop glasses!

http://www.superfantabulousblog.blogspot.com maria

Had you brought a glove…

http://www.the700level.com Matt P.

Can’t give you an E for this one, the guys behind you are playing defense for crissakes. Nice effort.

Loser.

http://phillieslongdrive.wordpress.com/ Tug Haines

hands like monkey glands

werththewait

Once you get a hand job you can no longer bring a glove to the park. It’s a rule.

http://www.twitter.com/mmccl267 Mark

I dropped a Rollins homer once. Ball was coming right at my hands till some asshole in front of me threw his hands up at the last second, deflecting the ball into my chest then down the aisle….still pissed till this day about it.

http://housethatglanvillebuilt.blogspot.com Reverend Paul Revere

Take solace meech, you’re still a better leftfielder than Adam Dunn.

http://genericshow.com GenericFanGroup

you cant spell Meech without the letter E…

http://www.superfantabulousblog.blogspot.com maria

@ werththewait

Good to know. It probably would have been more embarrassing to catch the homerun ball with a glove.

MAW

One of my most prized possessions is a foul ball I caught in 1980. It was hit by Michael Jack Schmidt against the Pirates. I was seven years old. I got Schmitty to sign it a year or so later at the KoP Mall opening.

It’s still on my bookcase.

will.H

the gentleman to your right did a good job of catching your ENTIRE hand

http://www.phillysucks.com Mike

Should put the cup up there. Now that would’ve been an awesome catch.

http://macho-row.blogspot.com Kevin

Tough break indeed. Great story and documentation though!

PhillyCubano

i always have a plan of catching a ball in my hat

Here Come Da Judge

Just as long as the douche who grabbed your hand didn’t get the ball then it makes it a little bit better

al

I am in 17-18 in that row and section for plan b and we havent caught anything yet, but were on tv once! good luck next time meech

D.Whitmore

you had like backwards hat like mid 90′s griffey but you also had the glasses like mid 80′s elton john. thats where you FAIL

Gonzo

In this case of emergency, you shoulda used the Stairs.

http://pabaseball.blogspot.com gm-carson

Meech, you da man!

Harry

I love the 40 year old douchbags who sit in the outfield seats wearing a glove on their hands the whole game

Phatty

I was at the game at Nationals Park two weekends ago, the one that eventually got called because of rain. I was all the way in the upper deck, and between innings Screech came out with his t-shirt launcher. Shoots a few out and I then I stand up after about 14 pre-game beers and start waving my arms like a douche. Then Screech actually looks at me and sets his t-shirt launcher straight at me. I’ve never seen a t-shirt go that high up, but it reached me all the way up in the nosebleeds. Only problem was it went a little closer to the girl next to me and we both caught it at the exact same time. She gave me a look of death, like if you do not give me this I will kill you. I realized I would never wear a Nats shirt anyway so I let her have it like a gentleman. Then she opens it up, and there’s a sausage inside of it! Which she then gave to me. Chivalry does pay off sometimes.

tofoomeister

Meech, I’d be willing to bet you’d pay $6.75 for another shot at catching that ball. It’s Miller Lite, FFS. It’s not like they’re going to run out of the stuff. Drop the beer and catch with two hands!

jb

no mention of losing your pants in the process? Your belt in the first photo looks dangerously low.

Gonzo

@ Phatty: why didnt you give HER the sausage?

prj

who’s belly is that to your left in the first pic??!?!

http://www.cranekickchronicles.com Crane Kick

dude….what the fuck is that next to your left arm? Is that a belly?

http://www.cranekickchronicles.com Crane Kick

Wow. That was weird. I wasn’t the only one who noticed that.

it’s a different world

Yeah, what’s with the shades, meech? You look like Dwayne Wayne.

http://www.thefightins.com meech.one

haha, while you can definitely see my fat belly, the thing resembling a belly to my left is actually a woman getting in the fetal position so she doesn’t get hit with the ball. Her loud shriek almost broke my concentration. ALMOST.

slowski

watched on tv and i remember a dude holding a baby ending up with the ball?

Lynniemac

I’ve sat out there and never gotten that close. The ONLY ball I’ve ever gotten was a Todd Pratt batting practice homerun. I caught it, and immediately handed it off to my best friend who had this giant thing for him. Two days later, her black lab literally ate the entire damn cover off of it. I hate that fucking dog.

slowski

in ’07 the second we sat down chase tried to get me a homerun ball for my birthday, but some tall jerk beat me to the catch.

Jordan

meech, i know how it feels. i had a chase utley foul ball go off my finger tips this year.

Drew

Say Hey! That effort deserves a Hoegaarden…
WOB.

PhiPhan5648

Back in ’95 my Dad had caught two foul balls in a season, and gave one to me, and my older sister. Both of them were hit off of Tommy Green. The one I have in my possession still was hit by a CUB, I don’t remember which one however.

…but regardless, I have not since then, been even close to another foul ball. Home-Runs never come to me, mainly due to the fact that I generally sit third base line, or first base line.

@meech.one, but if you had had a glove, you might have walked away with that Coste Ball.

Ninja

“Once you get a hand job you can no longer bring a glove to the park. It’s a rule.”

Is that because you’re obligated to give the next one?

We just do the wave at Miller Park.

Gaze

Is that Santa Claus getting credit with the block over your left shoulder? Nice to see he’s a fan of the Phils!

Kyle

I actually had a hr ball in my hands once, i was 11 and i had come up with a shot off the bat of the one and only rico brogna. I had it, until a drunken phillies faithful literally tackled me. and tru to philadelphia fandom, when a little 11 year old in my section catches a hr ball, ill tee him up like sheldon brown on reggie bush

PhillyCubano

@Gaze

I was gonna say at least you didnt boo santa behind you

Zach

Check out the contrast between the guys behind him. Santa is concentrating intently on the field and the Screech behind him is flipping the fuck out.

Frank

Back in 1994 my pop knocked me over to catch a foul ball hit by Raul Mondesi, of the Dodgers at the time, down the first base line at the Vet. I was 18 yrs old and it was the first ball we ever caught at a game. It was awesome.

Years later my best friend would be playing for the Blue Jays and I was out partying with the team and got to buy Raul a shot and tell him the foul all story. He had all white on and a big white hat with croc shoes. Cool ass dude. Sent me back a shot a few minutes later.

Good times indeed!!

Good effort Meech

Thriller

Meech. Good attempt brother. It’s karma Your next attempt will be soon.

1. Men NEVER bring a glove to a baseball game.
2. Props for handling the beer situation the right way.
3. For the amount of tailgating you do, the sun is not kind to you.

http://www.thefightins.com How do you spell retard?

@Lynniemaca Todd Pratt batting practice homerun. I caught it, and immediately handed it off to my best friend who had this giant thing for him.

Had a thing for Todd Pratt? That’s like having a thing for a movie set gaffer.

Gonzo

I used to know a chick who used to be Todd’s booty call.

D.Whitmore

i used to always get a shit ton of todd pratt baseball cards. nothing pissed me off more than getting 5-10 todd pratt and travis fryman cards per box. fuckin ruined my childhood

Lynniemac

Yeah, I know, Howdy, but we’ve been friends since we were 12. After that long, you tend to overlook little idiosyncrasies like outrageously weird taste in men.

Jay

I applaud your boozy efforts, and wish you well in your future ball catching endeavors.

http://thegoodphight.com jonk

Almost perfection, but needed an arrow in every frame for beer.

todd

@al – Dunn…. Dunn… Dunn… Dunn… YOU SUCK! (Plan B, back of 144)

todd

you know what i’m talkinbout, left field plan b’ers…

CASTRO

Ok so let’s get this straight you dropped the ball because the guy behind you grabbed your arm??? Well I was there…yes it was me torturing you the rest of the game, sitting over your right shoulder. I think the exact quote was, “that might have been Costes’ last home run ever and you dropped it no big deal”. I mean come on but the beer down for god sake how often do you get this chance. As everyone can see my buddy, (sitting in his ticketed seat) was clearly the only one with a play on the ball, I mean come on you had to move over 4 seats and jump in the air, do you know nothing about the game of baseball??? it was his ball, I think I even recall him calling you off, ok maybe not? Anyway whats done is done, you have to live with that missed opportunity for the rest of your life. At least you have these pcitures that you 8 y/o son can reflect on..LOL, and I am glad you didnlt climb to the top of CBP like you said and jump off. Seriously though you were a good sport, and I will also add that indeed that was a laser of a shot by Coste, who would have known the old man still had it in him?

http://www.thefightins.com meech.one

haha, ↑ that’s the guy that was sitting behind me.

C’mon though Castro, you can’t honestly tell me that you read this and came away thinking I’m trying to blame your buddy. I didn’t even realize my fingers were accosted until I saw that pic. I blame no one but myself.

You guys were funny though. Next time, I’ll just let your buddy get it.

Brotherflea

Ok meech.one. I was the guy who supposedly “raped” your hands. That ball was all mine until you lumbered over six seats and ruined it! I aslo think that the photos above show the ball just after it bounced off of your brick-like palm, but I’m not sayin, I’m just sayin. Perhaps it was those rediculously large RayBans that threw off your depth perception. Either way, the Phils won, and thats most important, right?

If you ever want to pay me back, you can see me any Sunday.

CASTRO

Meech, like I said you were a great sport about it, and if i had known I was sitting behind a Philladelphia celebrity I wouldn’t have been so hard on you. Like my buddy said we are there every Sunday maybe we can catch up and reminice about it in October at the ballpark….

http://www.thefightins.com meech.one

Brotherflea: “Raped” is more of a descriptive word used to tell a story. And I take offense to the “lumbering over six seats” part, though. I thought I was quite graceful.

I guess technically you could say I was in the wrong there, but it’s not like I barreled over anybody, those seats were empty.

Castro: Sure thing. Next time I’m at The Bank on a Sunday, I’ll swing by the scene of the crime and treat you fellas to a cold beer.

And don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the ribbing. I even joined in myself. Personally I thought my best line came when I got off the phone with my wife who saw it on Comcast and I said, “I’d rather get caught by Cheaters cameras than be filmed missing that ball.”

Good time, fellas.

Chuck

I got the lucky roll at the end of the bobbles. It was supposed to be a day where I took my 1 & 1/2 yr old son to his first game ever, buy him an overpriced philly phanatic stuffed animal and go home happy. Instead, he got a souvenir that most kids will dream about getting until their in their 40′s. Thanks for missing that ball, My son loves it!

Jerry

1979 All Star Game Batting Practice, Kingdome. Me: 14 years old. Dave Winfield homer lands in my lap while I’m eating a kingdog. The usher suggests I get my photo taken at the official “MLB Contract For a Day Booth”. When I return with my photo and contract, the 40yo dude next to me says the ball hit his hand and would like to go get a photo as well. I say “no way!”. He offers to have me hold his program to insure his return. I agree and you know what happens next. The photo still adorns my fridge 30 years later. Please notify me if you hear of a guy bragging about catching a Dave Winfield ball. I’d like to return his program.

Joe

So am I reading you correctly?

You leaped up and to your right to *touch* a ball that was going straight to the guy who grabbed your hand?

You stuck your arm in the guy’s face and you’re complaining/surprised that he did something about it?

In Philly?

(I wonder what the other guy wrote on *his* blog: “I was all set to catch a ball coming straight for me when this douchehole a row down and a seat over stuck his arm in my face.”)

Gonzo

That’s right, Joe. Wanna fight aboot it?

Costely Mistake

“”"”"”"”"
werththewait Says:
June 1st, 2009 at 2:50 pm

Once you get a hand job you can no longer bring a glove to the park. It’s a rule.
“”"”"”"”"

What she was wearing a baseball glove when it happened?

Costely Mistake

“””””””””
werththewait Says:
June 1st, 2009 at 2:50 pm

Once you get a hand job you can no longer bring a glove to the park. It’s a rule.
“””””””””

*What if she was wearing a baseball glove when it happened?

sdk

Wow bro I noticed the botch catch on TV but didn’t realize it was you. Don’t feel bad – atleast you have a funny story with a bunch of good pictures to keep the tale alive forever.